Focus on motivation in assisted suicides code

NEW guidelines in England and Wales on whether a person is to be prosecuted for assisted suicide will place closer scrutiny on the motivation of the suspect, their chief prosecutor said.

It states that as long as compassion is the “driving force” behind a suspect’s actions – even if the suspect benefits from the death – the person is unlikely to be prosecuted. The person, who wants to die, “must have a clear, settled and informed wish to die”.

The 1961 Suicide Act makes it an offence to encourage or assist a suicide or a suicide attempt in England and Wales. Anyone doing so could face up to 14 years in prison.